


Helping Out a Friend

by myblueworld



Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 01:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9635411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myblueworld/pseuds/myblueworld
Summary: Joe's boyfriend is upset that Joe got injured.Joe's best friend help the said boyfriend to get a small, harmless revenge.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eafay70](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Nobody Breaks My Hart!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9465680) by [eafay70](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70). 



> 1\. A companion to "Nobody Breaks My Hart!"  
> 2\. Un-betaed. Expect an embarrassing amount of grammatical mistakes.

*******

 

James cringes when he sees the replay of the incident where Lapadula stepped on Joe’s head.

“Ouch,” he says. “That must be really hurt…”

Zizzi barks from where he is sitting, as if agreeing what James has said.

“Yeah,” James glances at Zizzi. Ruffling his dog’s head, James looks at the TV again. “Poor Charles,” he says, shaking his head a little.

“But I’m pretty sure that the Milan guy had no intention to do it, right, Zizzi?” James turns his head to look at the Canaan Hound. “That guy looked so horrified there,” James gestures with his chin to the TV.

Zizzi answers James’ question with a single bark.

His thumb rubbing his chin, James watches the TV intently. Then he sees Joe already stands between the pole again. Even with the white bandage around his head and some scratches over his swollen face, Joe acts as if nothing has happened.

James chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. There is that warm proud feeling in his smile when he looks at Zizzi.

“Well… That’s our Charlie, right, boy?” James says. “A true warrior that will fight till the end, even with blood stains all over his face”

Okay, maybe James is a little exaggerating. But seriously, James is really proud of his best friend, standing tall between the poles to do his job.

 _That’s a real English man, who always gets the job done, no matter what_ , James thought as he continues watching the game, his smile still lingers on his lips.

Zizzi jumps from the floor to the couch, and lays itself next to James. James glance at the dog that is now laying comfortably besides him. “You see that Zizzi? A goalkeeper with the highest fighting spirit, and that’s what Pep has thought not good enough for his team. I‘m sure that the others will say the same thing about Charles being strong and brave, don’t you think so?”

Zizzi doesn’t bark, but it lifts his head to look at James for a second or two, then goes back to its laying position.

“You don’t think so, Zizzi?” James forehead creases. Then something strikes his mind. He snorts.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, boy,” James says as he scratches his chin. “I don’t think that Charles’ boyfriend will be extremely happy about this.”

This time, Zizzi gives him a bark to answer him. James laughs lightly and pets the dog’s head. “You also think so? Yeah. David must be quite upset right now.”

 

*******

 

James presses the button on the remote control to turn off the TV.

He looks at Zizzi. “So, what do you think? Should we call Charles to ask how he is, or should we let his boyfriend do that?”

Zizzi only lifts his head a little at James. He looks uninterested, as much as a dog can look uninterested. James laughs.

“Yeah, you’re right. David will let us know anyway about what happen. And am pretty sure that Charles will have more than enough questions from David about what happened.”

Zizzi barks then jumps down from the couch. Making a short walk to the fireplace, the dog lays itself on the rug in front of the fireplace. James stands up and walks to the kitchen. Ten minutes later, he comes back with a cup of hot tea in his hand.

Sitting on the couch again, James turns on the TV again and flicks between some channels. He settles for a channel which has a rerun episode of The Office.

When his phone goes off, James glances at the clock.

“About half an hour after the game, Zizzi,” says James as he reaches out for his phone. “Not bad, huh? I thought it will only take fifteen minutes for David to call us.”

James slides his finger on the phone and brings it to his ear.

“What's up, David?”

“Your best friend is unreasonable, James Milner!”

James is not actually surprised. But still, he finds it almost funny to hear that fuming tone in David’s voice, as the image of the small Spaniard getting frustrated is somehow amusing for James.

“I'm not the one who fell in love with him, David Silva,” James says with a small smile on his lips. He still remembers how those two of his former teammates had been looking at each other with so much adoration in their eyes, but none of them had enough courage to take the first move.

“I'm guessing this is about his head injury?” James asks, even though he already knows the answer.

“Yes! He won't let me visit him, he thinks I'm overreacting, and WORST of all -” David pauses.

James wonders whether David stops to catch his breath, or just to give a dramatic effect. But he guesses it’s more of the latter one.

“He has ordered me to not teach a lesson to the idiot who did it to him! I, his red-blooded Spanish lover, have been banned from seeking revenge!”

This time, James can’t hold himself from laughing. A thought crosses his mind, that maybe somewhere in a parallel universe, instead of a football player, David is a telenovela actor.

His laughter subsides, but James still has an amused smile on his lips.

“Leave it to me,” James tells David.

“Oh, James. I know I can always count on you, James. That idiot should learn that nobody, I repeat, nobody breaks my Hart!”

“Heart as in H-E-A-R-T or Hart as in your boyfriend’s name?” James asks for a confirmation.

“Both!”

“Give me three days. Or even less.”

“Good. And I need proof that the revenge has been done.”

“You got it. Bye, David.”

James puts his phone on the coffee table. Zizzi leaps to the couch, and lets James ruffles its head.

“So, that is a friend who calls out for a help. And you know what we should do?”

His dog barks at James. James nods. “You’re right, boy. We ask another friend who can do it, to do it for us.”

He reaches out for his phone. “Now let’s see… I am pretty sure that there are at least two of the members that live in Italy,” he says to himself as he’s scrolling through his contact list.

 

*******

Two days later, James is talking to Jordan Henderson as he’s sitting in the changing room when his phone goes off.

James takes out his phone. He’s already smiling a little as he sees the sender of the message. There is only one word in the message.

_Done._

But it’s the attachment that turns his smile into a satisfied grin.

“What is it?” Jordan asks. His brows furrow down a little as he watches James with curiosity.

“Oh, it was nothing,” James shakes his head a little as he forwards the message to another number along with the attachment. He lifts up his head to look back at Jordan as he puts back his phone into his bag. “Just a confirmation about something.”

A few hours later, a short trip to Cheshire has brought James to David’s home. He is now sitting next to David, with Joe and Harlow’s faces on the screen in front of them. He can’t decide which one is more amusing. The delightful wide grin plastered on David’s face, or the look of i-am-totally-not-amused on Joe’s face that he is seeing now on the laptop’s screen.

Harlow, sitting on Joe’s lap, seems to have a different opinion from his father. The toddler can’t stop giggling since the first time he saw the video of a man running from two huge dogs behind him. And it’s already the fourth time the video is being replayed. Who can say no to an adorable kid who says, “Again! Again!” while clapping his hands with so much excitement? Well, not James nor David.

“Harlow, there is nothing funny about this,” Joe says to his son before he glares back at James and David. “Aren't you two supposed to set good examples for him?”

James chuckles. “Harmless revenge, Charlie,” James says. “Just two Canaan dogs in Milan chasing the guy who messed up your head. What better use of my membership in an international organization of Canaan dog owners?”

James knows that the strong connection between the members of the organization will come in handy someday.

Next to him, David is smiling widely.  “ _¡Así es!_ ” David says.  “You never told James to not seek revenge.”

Technically, David is right. But James decides not to point that out to Joe.

“No more seeking revenge by either of you,” Joe says, with the kind of voice that he usually used when they were coming out to the pitch from the tunnel. “Harlow, say goodnight.”

James and David wave back at Harlow who is still laughing.

When Joe ends the Skype call, David turns his head to look at James.

“ _Gracias_ , James.” David says, the smile still lingers on his lips.

James nods, returning David’s smile. “ _De nada_ , David. Just a friend helping out a friend.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes. James named his Canaan Hound dog Zizzi. And The Office is his favorite TV shows.
> 
> I really enjoy this sort of collaboration. Your idea is awesome, so thanks for that :)


End file.
